Vitamin C is essential for your body to protect itself from various sources of damage, so make sure you get the recommend daily amounts.

Vitamin C is a nutrient found in citrus fruits, broccoli, strawberries, cantaloupe, tomatoes, other fruits and vegetables, as well as fortified 100% fruit juices. Among other things, it acts as an antioxidant, helping to protect cells from damage caused by free radicals, which your body produces as it converts food into energy. How much you need depends on your age. For the average recommended daily amounts and other information about vitamin C, read the Office of Dietary Supplements Quick Fact Sheet.

Plyometric training involves the kind of muscle contraction you experience in jumping. Using it as part of your exercise routine can improve your athletic performance.

One review of studies on the effects of plyometric (explosive jump) training, or PT, suggested that plyometric training can enhance vertical jump ability and leg power for healthy individuals. This training can be as simple as drop jumps, counter-movement jumps, alternate leg bounding, and hopping. And there are PT exercises for the upper body, too! The purpose of PT is to improve your athletic performance by increasing the speed or force of muscle contraction that enables you to jump higher, run faster, throw farther, or hit harder during a game. The full article is available online from the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

As a non-deployed parent, taking care of yourself is important. Taking time just for you has been linked to better parenting, healthier lifestyles, and greater satisfaction with life overall. Also, parental can model healthy ways to manage and cope with stress that effectively decrease children's worry, as they sometimes express concern over their parents’ health and support. Real Warriors suggests scheduling time to relax with a book, do gardening, or practice yoga. Volunteering at a local charity is also a great way to provide both personal satisfaction and connection to community.

Exercising before bed could keep you up at night. To optimize your sleep, avoid exercising within three hours of bedtime.

Although regular exercise can improve sleep (see this HPRC article), your workout time may be putting you in a less-than-ideal state for a good night’s rest. Exercise not only makes you more alert but also raises your body temperature, both of which can make falling and staying asleep more difficult. To create healthy sleep habits, the National Sleep Foundation (NSF) recommends that you finish your workout at least three hours before you go to bed. View more healthy sleep tips on the NSF website.

The events of 9/11 changed many lives. HPRC’s own Director was on the spot at the Pentagon that day.

Everyone remembers where they were on September 11 ten years ago when the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon occurred. Retired Navy Capt. Stephen Frost—now Director of the Human Performance Resource Center—was at the Pentagon when the building was hit, and he was one of the first medical personnel to arrive at the disaster. Read this DoD article to learn more about his life-changing experience.

No exercise program is complete without strength training. It contributes to your strength, speed, and size—and makes you look good, too.

In order to improve your athletic performance, you need to include strength training in your workout routine. Having a solid strength-training program can help you meet your sports and performance goals more easily by improving overall strength and delaying fatigue. Including this type of training will help you get bigger, faster, and stronger to stay a step ahead of your competitors. Your program should focus on the major muscle groups: chest, back, thighs, calves, biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Training these areas will help you become a better athlete while also improving your physique. For more about how to incorporate strength training into your routine, read the Strength Training Section of the Sports Fitness Advisor website.

Responding positively to news of good things helps strengthen relationships.

“Capitalization” refers to the process by which people share good news with one another. Studies have shown that responding to good news with support and enthusiasm helps build a stronger relationship between two individuals. Using capitalization with your loved ones can not only strengthen your relationship, but also can ease the transition for returning Warfighters and their loved ones.

Not having a place to exercise is no excuse. The whole world can be your gym if you just put a little thought into it.

The last excuse a trainer wants to hear from a client is that they don’t have enough space—or the right space—to exercise. The truth is that with a little effort and imagination, you can find a whole world of places and practices to improve your strength and endurance. Just think about all the free equipment outside at the park, on your way to work, or at your child’s school playground. You can make use of just about anything. Want to gain upper body strength? Start climbing the monkey bars and don’t stop ‘til you drop. Or try push-ups—a great way to get moving without standing in line at the gym. All you need for walking or running is a good pair of shoes and any path, road, or bike trail—the same places work for a bicycle, too, and they don’t cost a dime. By now you should be getting the picture. Just get rid of that mental block about needing a special place or equipment that is keeping you from getting a healthy, fit body. Just think of all the new forms of exercise waiting for you the minute you walk out the door! Here are five simple exercises to get you started.

Creating and maintaining family rituals is a great way to reduce stress for parents and children.

Young children need consistency and predictability in the environment in which they grow up. Maintaining consistent expectations with regards to education, work, and family responsibilities is crucial in a child’s healthy development, as well as for family relations. A great way to achieve a sense of consistency is to create family rituals. MilitaryOneSource suggests rituals such as reading letters aloud during dinner and eating together as a family.

The new “Fighting Weight Strategies” page of the HPRC website has joint and service-specific programs for weight maintenance.

Looking for programs to help manage your weight? The Human Performance Resource Center just posted its new “Fighting Weight Strategies” page, where we have compiled a list of programs and resources, arranged by service, for maintaining overall health and body weight. You can find these helpful resources by going to the Fighting Weight Strategies page of HPRC’s website.

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